Dear Dana
by Tranquillity's Chaos
Summary: As the saying goes, third times the charm. Being held hostage by the Ten Rings hadn't done it, Obi and Angry-Russian-Man hadn't done it, but damn, Loki had. It took three tries, but he realised he couldn't let Dana live a life without her father. What kind of douche bag… \This was already so much harder than anything he'd ever done before, and hadn't even met the girl./


**BOO BITCH. So, here's Dear Dana. I'm not sure about this chapter, but I think it sets the mood/setting pretty well. Tell me what you think, people. Tell mee what yew thunk. **

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Everyone knows Tony Stark is a genius. Stark Industries- the most technologically advanced company on the planet. Weapons, phones, computers, robotics. All of it- decades ahead of what anyone else could have hoped to achieve. It started with Howard Stark- Stark Industries was originally focused on weapons. Nothing more. Of course with money comes power, and more often than not, greed follows. Howard was a genius himself. He contributed to the Nuclear reactor. But he never wanted a son, and Tony knew that through-and-through. In some ways, Tony would have been better off if he had been a vegetable. Then, Howard would have merely placed him in a home and forgotten about him. But no, he had to be a genius just like his father.

Soon it would become evident that Anthony Howard Stark would be far more than his father. Compared to his son, Howard's intelligence was weak. In the years to come, Tony would grow and grow, and with each ingenious design, idea and achievement, Howard would grow more and more bitter.

The limelight was still firmly focused on the elder Stark, but the world knew all too well of the prodigy Stark child. As he entered his teens, he became known as a narcissist. If anyone had ever taken the time to know him, they would believe different. After all, if no one loves you, you only have yourself to do it for you.

At age fourteen, Tony entered MIT, and was immediately ousted by his classmates. Nobody likes a know-it-all. Tony should have expected it, why would it be any different at university, he asked himself. He was so angry at first, then it just shifted, moulding into a saddened state of near-apathy. He didn't know it, but the realization that few people would ever truly put up with him had become ingrained in his subconscious. He slowly stopped trying to reach out. It was surprising he hadn't stopped years ago, but he'd always had Jarvis, the family's butler.

When Jarvis died, Tony was almost ready to graduate with PhD's in mechanical engineering and physics. Never before had Tony cried with such fervour.

When he returned home he had half the mind to tell his father where to shove it, but he would never get the chance as mere hours before, the car that his father had been driving crashed. Tony didn't bother looking into details, in fact he wasn't entirely sure on what had actually happened. Has his father been driving? Had it crashed the day he got back? Or the day before that? Or the day of graduation? Eh, he didn't have time for it, nor did he care. All he knew was that Maria and Howard Stark were no more.

Tony found himself strangely indifferent.

Obi, a family friend and close associate of Tony's immediately took up the reigns of SI, and Tony was thankful. He wasn't quite ready to take up the weight of the company, but he wasn't going to let someone take control forever. At 22, the world watched on as Anthony Stark was named CEO of Stark Industries. It could only be a very good thing, or a disaster just waiting to happen.

A decade flew by and the world greedily took in everything that came of the lines of SI. Weapons of absolute mass-destruction were produced and countries opposing the United States of America trembled in fear. Momentarily, the world halted with the realization that either America would become even more powerful, or a war that could not be won in a day would break out.

Surprisingly enough, neither happened.

In that time, Tony met a woman named Ana-Marie. She was a beautiful woman, a model and she quickly became just another notch on his bed-post. One of many. Tony did as he usually did- he used protection, but he didn't count on Ana-Marie getting pregnant. It wasn't hard to figure out that she had pricked a hole in the condom. It wouldn't have worried him if he'd found out straight away, because the sheer chances. However, nothing ever really liked Tony Stark- fate included. Soon, a little girl was brought into the world, and her name was Dana Richards. Funnily enough, Ana-Marie never told Tony, but Tony knew. He always knew. He was a paranoid fucker by nature, his father had taught him more than well that you had to look out for yourself, because no one else would. Sometimes this meant that you had to make sure you knew what other people didn't want you to. He kept tabs over the years, but really, he never cared enough to bother with the little girl.

However, five years later when Tony had just turned forty two, Obie pushed for Tony to make a presentation of the newest weapon to roll out of Stark himself. Something about public relations.

And so he did. In hindsight, Tony wished he'd let Rhodey ride with him- but part of him stood by his original plan. Because Tony knew the exact percentage of his survival. The fact that he had lived through the whole ordeal was shocking, even he thought so. With Rhodey in the 'Fun-vee', his survival rate shot up- and Tony's became almost obsolete.

And so Tony would never admit it, but he was more than happy to have a miniaturized arc reactor in his chest than loose of his only friends. Without Rhodey, he'd probably loose himself.

And so Tony escaped, and he created something new. Eventually the world would come to know Iron Man, and then Tony as the newest addition to the world of superheroes.

And then their was all that 'Avengers' business.

Tony wasn't sure what to think about that. When he had first thought about it, it was instantly obvious that it would blow up into something bigger. Tony figured there was a sixty percent chance that this 'Loki' guy would end up endangering civilian lives. Once the situation became clear, he moved that to a ninety-two percent chance, and added the factor that it was highly likely he would die. Over all, he only saw three possible outcomes, and it was more likely that Loki would find success than he would remain alive.

Honestly, he was surprised, and there is _a_ _lot _that it takes to surprise Tony Stark.

And the most surprising thing of all?

In the moments before Jarvis was disconnected, the War Machine when offline and his Arc Reactor began to frost over, he had cared. He had cared for Pepper- which he had already began to suspect was happening- something incredibly strange, but he couldn't stop it, so he wouldn't try. And then Dana.

Honestly, he hadn't thought about her in months. Probably a bit longer than that. She was, what, eighteen? She was an adult now. And she had no idea that Iron Man was in fact her father.

And it hurt him. It hurt so, so much. Because he had never had a family, not once. He had had Jarvis- actually, Jarvis was likely the only person who had stood beside him regardless. Rhodey, Happy and Pepper- they were his new family. He would never forget Jarvis, but they were there now. Dana should have been, too, he thought. He shouldn't have left her, because that is what his own father had done. And when he thought about it, didn't it make him just as bad as Howard? The one man he truly hated?

So when he woke up to the Hulk roar, made a very wise cracks about surviving, and then invited the rest of the Avengers to eat Shwarma, Dana had been the only thing on his mind.

As the saying goes, third times the charm. Being held hostage by the Ten Rings hadn't done it, Obi and Angry-Russian-Man hadn't done it, but damn, Loki had. It took three tries, but he realised he couldn't let Dana live a life without her father. What kind of douche bag…

Damn.

Now however, the problem is that he really has no idea how to tell her. Should he just turn up? With a present? Like…a car? Or is that too much? Maybe a puppy? Girl's like puppies, right?

On second thought, maybe a little research would be required.

This was already so much harder than anything he'd ever done before, and hadn't even met the girl.

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**Please review. I like reviews, they make me think someone cares. O_O**

**No, I'm joking. But seriously, review or I'll find out where you sleep. **

**-TC**


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